LIBRARY OF CONGRESSJ 



S/,e/f ^^■1^1^.^. 




MEMORIAL ADDRESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



William H. Cole 

(A REPRESENTATIVE I RDM MARYLAND), 



DELIVKRKU IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND IN THE SENATE, 
J , V, Forty-ninth Congress, Second Session. 



rUBLISIIED RV (JRDER oE CONGRESS. 



\V 



ASHINGTON: ('■'■ 



GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1887. 



JOINT RESOLUTION provMiiij; for priutias eulogies delivered in Congress upon the late 
Abraham Dowdney, John Amot, jr.. Lewis Beach, William T. Price. William H. Cole, 
and Austin F. Filve. 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Bepreseiitafives of tlie United 
States of America in Congress assend^Ied, That there be printed, of the 
eulogies delivered in Congress upon the late Abraham Dowdney, John 
Ai-not, jr., and Lewis Beach. late Representatives in the Forty-ninth 
Congress from the State of New York, and William T. Price, late a Rep- 
resentative from the State of Wisconsin, and William H. Cole, late a 
Representative from the State of Maryland, twelve thousand five hundred 
copies each, of which three thousand copies of each shall be for the u.se 
of the Senate and nine thousand five hun<lred each for the use of the 
House of Representatives. 

Sec. 2. That there be also printed, of the eulogies delivered in Congress 
upon the late Austin F. Pike, a Senator from New Hampshire, twelve 
thousand cojiies, of which four thousand copies shall be for the use of the 
Senate and eight thousand copies for the use of the House of Representa- 
tives. 

Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury be. and he is hereby, directed 
to have jirinted portraits of the said Abraham Dowdney, John Arnot, jr., 
Lewis Beach, William T. Price, AVilliam H. Cole, and Austin F. Pike, 
to accompany said eulogies, and for the jnu-pose of engraving and print- 
ing said portraits the sum of three thousand dollars, or so much thereof 
as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated. 

Approved, March 3, 1887. 
2 



ANNOUNCEMENT 

OF THE 

Death of William H. Cole. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE HOUSE OF RErRESENTATIVES. 



In the House of Representatives, 

JuJy S, 188(j. - 
Mr. CoMPTON. Mr. Speaker, it becomes my painful duty 
to announce to tlie House the decitli of my late colleague. Dr. 
WiLLi.\M H. Cole, of Maryland, who died this morning at 
hi.s lodging.s in tliis city at lialf past 7 o'clock. At some 
future time I shall ask the House to i)ay proper tribute to 
the memory of tlie deceased; and now offer for immediate 
adoption tlie resolutions I send to the desk. 

Till' Clerk read as folhnvs: 

Resolved, That the House lias heanl with profound resret the announce- 
ment of the deatli of Hon. WlLLl.\l\l H. C'OLE, late a Representative from 
the State of Mar.rhmd. 

Resolved l»j the House of Representatives (the Senate eoncurriiig), Tliat 
a select joint committee, consisting of seven members of the House and 
three members of the Senate, be a])pointed to take order for superintend- 
ing the funeral, and to escort the remains of the deceased to their jilace 
of burial; and the necessary e.xpenses attending the execution of this 
or.ler be paid out of the contingent fund of the House. 

Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House be authorized and 
directed to take such steps as may be necessary for proiierly carrying out 
the provisions of this resolution. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foregoing resolutions to the 
Senate. 



4 Life and Character of W'illiaiu II. Voh\ 

lii'.tolred, As a furtlier mark of respect to tlu' memory of the decoaserl 
that the House do now adjourn. 

The resohitions were agreed to. 

The Speaker annoiiuced the committee to accompany the 
remains of the hite Hon. William H. Cole to Baltimore, 
as foHows : Mr. Compton, Mr. Gibson of Maryland, Mr. 
McComas, Mr. Dibble, Mr. Irion, Mr. Wade, and Mr. 
Stone of Kentucky. 

The announcement of the vote was then made ; and the 
House accordingly adjourned. 



In the House of Kepresentatives. 

Fehruanj ^S, 18S7. 
Mr. CoJiPTON. Mr. Speaker, I offer the resolutions I send 
to the desk. 

The Clerk read as follows : 

Resolved, That tlie business of this House be suspended that proper 
honors may lie paid to tlie memory of Hon. William H. Cole, late a 
Representative in Congress from the State of Jlaryland. 

Resolved, That in the death of Jlr. Cole the country has sustained the 
loss of a patriotic citizen and a most faithful public servant. 

Resolved, That the Clerk of the House communicate these resolutions 
to the Senate. 



ADDRESSES 

ON THE 

Death of William H. Cole. 



DELIVERED IN THE TWO HOUSES DF CONGRESS. 



Address of Mr. Compton, of Maryland. 

Mr. Speaker : It is meet and right that we .sliouhl pause 
and desist from the performance of the regular routine of 
duties here long enough to ponder the lesson of warning to 
be learned at the grave of a dead brother. The exacting 
demands of modern busy life are such that we all i-un the 
risk of losing sight of the momentous consideration that 
life is but an atom in the wastes of time, while the future, 
after life, is an endle.ss and inevitable certainty. I have 
no elaborate eulogy to deliver upon my late colleague, to 
whose memory we are devoting the present hour. No 
thoughts couched in '-measured i^hrase" or words set "in 
metrical array"; naught we can say, can help or harm him. 
It is vain to attempt to lift the veil or to explore '■ that un- 
discovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns. " 
He is beyond the reach of the concerns of time or space ; he 
cannot hear our lamentations, however loud, or our wailings, 
however plaintive ; he is at rest in the bosom of his God. 

The life of William H. Cole was a busy and not un- 
eventful one ; his death untimely and more than ordinarily 
sad. In the outset of his manhood he seemed to lack fixed- 



6 Life (.Did Charudtr of W'dUain H. Cole. 

. ness of piirpose, tlioiigli tliis was not cliaracteristic of him. 
He devoted himself first to the study and jiractice of the law, 
and soon thereafter to that of the medical i)rofession. Soon 
the blast of war was sounded in the land. He promptly 
decided for himself in conformity with his i^rinciples and his 
sympathies, and leaving the State of his birth, he crossed 
the broad waters of the Potomac and ranged himself under 
the Confederate flag. He remained on that side of the lines 
of battle until the drums had ceased to throb and the flag 
was furled. In the discharge of his duty iu the line of liis 
pi'ofession he ministered faithfully to the sufferings of the 
sick, wounded, and dying as faithfully and steadily with 
the red glare of battle around him as in the ciuiet wards of 
the secluded hospital. When peace was proclaimed he 
sought a residence in the great State of Texas, and there for 
the first time associated himself with the press. 

Returning to the State of Maryland, he resumed his resi- 
dence in the city of Baltimore, the place of his nativity, and, 
becoming associated with the Democratic jn'ess of that city, 
devoted his best energies to the duties of his calling through 
the remainder of his life to the date of his election to a seat 
in this House. He came here well eqi;ipped for a place upon 
tliis flocjr : liaving held tlie position for more than one term 
as reading clerk in the city council, and for five successive 
sessions as reading clerk of the house of delegates of Mary- 
land, he was made familiar with the routine of legislative 
business and the rules of order governing legislative bodies. 
While not to be ranked as among the great men of his day, 
and not endowed with exceptional powers of intellectual 
vigor, he had a well-balanced and well-stored mind. He 
possessed in a pre-eminent degree those two traits which 
tend the one to win friends and the other to win success, 
iinselfish kindness of heart and indomitable energy. 



Address of Mr. Campion, of Marykuid. 7 

Few men attached more closely to tliem tlieir intimate 
associates, the i)eoi)le among whom they move, than did Dr. 
Cole. Seldom has a more signal triumph been won than 
that achieved by him through his own jjersonal efforts 
which made him the n(.iminee of his party for a seat in Con- 
gress. This was the acme of his ambition. He won it 
worthily and prized it highly, and no man ever exerted him- 
self more diligently in the discharge of every duty and obli- 
gation imposed by the position. The paralyzing influences 
of a mortal malady bore heavily iipon him almost from the. 
day of his election. His unyielding will alone sustained 
him, but this was sufficient until the final collapse. No call 
of duty was too insignificant, no claim upon his time and 
attenti(jn too exacting, and no constituent too liunible to 
receive his careful and impartial consideration. 

Called myself perha])s as f reciuently as any one of the three 
hundred and twentj'-five members composing this body to 
visit, in my official capacity, the various Departments of the 
Government, I seldom failed to meet my colleague, and more 
than once I have abandoned the mission I was on that I 
might tempt him to rest and recreation, which he seemed to 
. need so badly. 

Perhaps, sir, no more striking illustration of unselfiish 
devotion to duty was ever displayed in this Hall than when 
he, feeble and faint, tottered to his seat that he might record 
his vote for the projiosition when first made by the distin- 
guished gentleman from Illinois, Mr. Morrison, for consid- 
eration of the bill for tariff reform. Few could have endured 
as much. None could have risked more than he did upon 
this occasion. It was the last vote he ever cast. This oc- 
curred on the 17th of June ; on the 8th of July he breathed 
his last. The immense concourse which gathered at his 
funeral and the solemnity which pervaded the subdued 



8 Life and Cluirnrter of William H. Cole. 

throng attested unmistakably the esteem in which he was 
held at home and the sincere regret felt by a grateful con- 
stituency at the loss of so faithful a representative. 

AVhen he died the State lost a worthy and valuable citizen, 
his party an intelligent and ardent adherent, his neiglibors 
a generous and steadfast friend, his bereaved wife a kind, 
considerate, and devoted husband. 



Address of Mr. Johnston, of North Carolina. 

Mr. Speaker : My acquaintance with Dr. Cole dates from 
the oiJening of the Forty-ninth Congress, when we were 
as signed to adjoining seats in this House and api)ointed by 
the Speaker to a membershij) of the same committee. 

The social and business intercourse which these two cir- 
cumstances occasioned soon grew into a friendship which I 
shall always cherish as one of the many jileasant and agree- 
able e^Disodes in my Congressional life. 

The warm and genial temperament of Dr. Cole, his con- 
fiding nature, and the generous iminilses of his heart soon 
won my sincere admiration and esteem. 

Every soldier knows how thorough and unaffected is the 
symijathy, and how deep and ardent becomes the friend- 
ship, which the joint particiiaation in a common danger or 
hardship begets. And every one on either side of the late 
struggle can testify to the immediate rii^ening into the siii- 
cerest friendshii:) of the slightest acquaintance, even between 
strangers, which the discovery of this fact always produces. 

It was not long after we met in this Hall that I learned 
from Dr. Cole that he had cast his lot with my people, and 
shared with them their sufferings in the dark i^eriod of their 
history, when they were heroically enduring the many pri- 



Address of Mr. Johnston, of North Carolina. 9 

vations and liardshii^s incident to tlie great and unfdi'tunate 
war in which, our country was invol^'ed. 

These facts, sir, in the former history of our deceased col- 
league, whose death we now mourn and whose virtues we 
now commemorate, became the common bond that served 
to warm our social and business relations with each other 
into close intimacy. 

Dr. Cole was permitted to occujiy his seat in this body 
for a few mouths only. It was but shortly after the organ- 
ization of the House that the germs of the insidious disease 
which caused his death began to develop, and soon he was 
unable to be with us in the discharge of his public duties ; 
but as long as he had strength to take part in the deliVwra- 
tions of this Congress, I bear testimony that his every act 
seemed to be inspired by a patriotic zeal for the welfare of 
our common country and a sincere desire to do his full duty 
and prove himself worthy of the great trust reposed in him 
by his constituents. 

The highest encomium that can be pronouiiced upon any 
man is to testify to his fidelity to duty. This I do for my 
departed friend, and I therefore deem it unnecessary for me 
to say more on this occasion. 

The history of his life, his patriotism, his virtues will be 
fitly eulogized by those who have known him longest and 
best. 

I offer these reflections as a sincere personal tribute to the 
worth and character of our lamented colleague, whose pub- 
lic career was so soon cut short liy the great Reaper who has 
garnered so many of our number in the past two years and 
before whose unerring sickle we must all sooner or later fall. 

When he comes to us may we each be prepared to leave 
behind us a record as pure and unsullied as that of W. H. 
Cole. 



10 J^ifc ('»'^ Character of William H. Cole. 

Address of Mr. Dibble, of South Carolina. 

Mr. Speaker : While grief is the tribute of affection to 
the memory of the deiiarted, awe and reverence are the ac- 
knowletlgment of that my.sterious after-land to which death 
is the portal. It is this intuition of our immortality that 
clothes an occasion like the present with impressive sol- 
emnity, and compels us to reflect that the path of human 
life, glorious or inglorious, leads but to the grave, whence 
begins, for each disembodied spirit, its own eternity. 

Ill the contemplation of our existence on eai'th under these 
conditions, how insignificant are worldly matters and inci- 
dents in comparison with man's hereafter. It is well for us, 
therefore, to pause amid business transactions, amid affairs 
of state, great or little, amid the contentions of faction and 
party in these legislative halls, and to spend a season in con- 
sidering life's uncertainty and the certainty of death ; for 
the marble walls which environ us are ineffective ramparts 
against the assault of our last enemy ; these guarded doors, 
with their double sentinels, do not avail to exclude the grim 
visitor who claims the privileges of the floor at his own 
oi^tion, despite our rules. Silently and rcsistlessly he enters 
and marks his victim, and the strong mind ceases to evolve 
its logic, the ready disi^utant no longer joins in high debate, 
the brilliant orator no more converts the tunudt of the House 
into attentive admiration ; but we behold the vacant chair, 
and the desk drajaed in mourning, and our country's work 
is for a time laid aside, while we acknowledge the presence 
of death. 

So came the summons to our comrade and friend, William 
H. Cole, on the 8th day of July last. Elected by the suf- 
frages of an ai^preciative constituency io rejn-esent ujjon this 
floor the interests of an iinpnrtant community, and, with his 



Address of 3Ir. Dihhh\ of tioufli CaroJiua. H 

colleagues, to speak the voice of the grand cjkl State of Mary- 
land ; in the very prime of his years : serving for liis fii'st 
term as a Representative of the people in Congress, and yet 
gaining rapidly, by his genial manners, his close attention to 
public duty, and his assiduous study of the questi(jns arising 
in legislation, the influence of a veteran member', there 
opened before him the prospect of a long and honorable 
career in this field of political life. 

Such was theanticiiwitiondf liis friends here and at home; 
such, no doubt, were the laudable aspirations of his own 
heart ; such were the hopes of a fond mother and a loving 
wife. And yet, an inscrutable decree of Providence decided 
otherwise : and it was my sad i)rivilege, Mr. Speaker, to 
stand beside his liier. and behold his mortal remains con- 
signed to the dust, in the consecrated soil of the cemetery 
near by his native city of Baltimore. And I will never 
forget the peculiar sadness wliich pervaded the immense 
throng of his fellow citizens who attended his body to the 
tomb. It Avas no formal mummery of woe, but the real, 
earnest manifestati(.)n of a people's sorrow at his deatli, and 
of sympathy with the disconsolate wife mourning the los* 
of him she so much Ljved. 

And it is with appropriate respect, Mr. Speaker, that I 
speak here of the touching incident which attended upon 
the funeral of our departed friend. His aged mother, to 
whom her son was the fond pride of her heart, and in whose 
bosom welled up that unciueuchable spring of aflfection— a 
mother's love— refused to be comforted. With tottering 
frame, feeble with age, and racked with the sorrow of this 
bereavement, she took her last look upon the lifeless body 
of her son, ere we bore it away from home for burial, and 
it was her last look also at things of earth ; for we had not 
returned from the sad offices of the interment ere that 
bereaved mother had ceased to lie, dying of a broken heart. 



12 Life and Character of William H. Cole. 

When we conteniijlate an occurrence like tliis, Mr. 
Speaker, liow inadequate we feel to the duty of fitly sjaeak- 
Ing of the virtues of the departed. We saw his nature in 
its outer crust, and can but give a superficial cast, like the 
mold taken by the sculptor after death. But in the crushed 
spirit of that mother there is a eulogy of that devoted son 
which dwells not in words of friends, however fitly spoken. 
She mourned him mo.st who knew him best. 

And in this comparison the thought is suggested, how 
often we miscalculate in estimating our fellows. We would 
look at one's externrd career, in the world's bustle and tur- 
moil, and yet fail to know or read the character which shows 
its choicest, noblest traits in the pure atmo.sphere of home. 
Which is the higher sphere of life— the public hall, or the 
hearthstone? Where are the noblest traits of humanity 
developed— in public, or in private ? And in this utilitarian 
age do we not err in placing those practical successes which 
we call " progress " above the three great ennobling virtues 
of mankind— faith, hope, and charity ? And how should 
we rightly measure ourselves and our achievements in this 
comparison? Let the poet ap2)ly the fit expressions to char- 
acterize our daily labors : 

A good, that never satisfies the mind, 

A beauty, fading lilce the April flowers. 

A sweet, with floods of gall that runs combined, 

A pleasure, passing ere in thought made ours, 

An honor, that more fickle is than wind. 

A glory, at opinion's frown that lowers. 

A treasury, which bankrupt time devours, 

A knowledge, than grave ignorance more blind, 

A vain dehght our equals to command, 

A style of greatness — hi effect, a dream, 

A swelling thought of holding sea and land, 

A servOe lot, decked with a pompous name, 

Are the sti-ange ends we toil for here below, 

Till wisest death make us our errors know. 



Address of 3[r. DihhJe, of SoufJt Cdvoliita. 13 

And yet, by a strange paradox, out of this insignificant 
life of onrs are evolved two immortalities. The one, an 
eternity of future existence in the transmigration of the 
soul, not from animal to animal, according to the fancy of 
Pythagoras, but, as we read in Holy Writ. fr(3m the natural 
or terrestrial to the sijiritual and celestial. Upon this has . 
the soul of our fellow member entered, and, we trust, to 
realize the bliss eternal. 

The other immortality is found in the imperishable i^ro- 
ducts of man, which he leaves as a legacy to those who sur- 
vive him, whether -treasured in memory and peri^etuated by 
tradition or fixed in mi.inuments of genius ; whether it be 
his own creations, committed to wi'itten or printed pages, or 
the recital of his life work by historian, poet, or eulogist. 
It is this latter kind of immortality of which Horace writes, 
when, Epicurean as he was, he refers to his poems as follows : 

"Non omnis niorior ; multaque pars mei vitabit Libiti- 
naml" '"I shall not entirely die; the better part of me 
shall escape the funeral rites." 

This life work of man, which does not die with his liody, 
but survives in the impressions and influences which he has 
made upon his times and leaves for those who survive him, 
can not be accurately estimated, but still exists as a factor 
of human progress. And it is by what one tints accomplishes 
and not by mere longevity that one's place in current history 
is to be measured. William H. Cole did not complete the 
term of threescore years and ten, specified as the ordinary 
period of human existence, but in his A-ery prime of man- 
hood was called away ; and yet, in a life of less than five 
decades, he performed the labors and achieved the piirposes 
which usually occuj^y the full complement of da5^s from 
childh(jod to old age. 

In many a sphere of iiul)lic life he had been an arduoits and 



14 Life and Character of William H. Cole. 

•williiiy \vurkei% and hail earned and obtained the encomiums 
of liis fellow citizens. As dei3uty registrar of Baltimore, 
then chief clerk of the lirst branch of the city coiincil, then 
for over ten years reading cleric of the Marj'land house of 
delegates, he discharged all duties of those several positions 
with efficiency and diligence, so that in the general election 
of 18S-i he was chosen to occupy a seat in this body, and he 
took his jilace as one of our number at the organization of 
this House in December, 1885. 

It was not my privilege to know him until the last year of 
his life. I met him here as a member of the present Con- 
gress and of its Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. 
Well do I remember that on the first occasion (jf our meet- 
ing each other he tendered me a favor, which, small in itself, 
was enhanced by the genial warmth of the manner in which 
it was offered. In the sessions of the committee he was 
frank in expression, open-hearted and liberal in action, 
punctual in attendance as long as his health permitted, and 
unremitting in the discharge of every duty, where duty was 
frequently arduous and exacting. And in association with 
him in the committee-room, and in the House, one could 
not fail to realize those .sterling traits of character which 
had secured him the confidence ami support of his largo and 
intelligent constituency, and had elevated him to the high 
trust of re^jresenting their rights and interests in the Halls 
of Congress. 

Some spend their days traveling along the level jilain of 
common-place, with a contracted horizon as a boundary of 
their vision and of their desires, and are content. Another 
seeks ever to rise above his surroundings and to climb to 
mountain heights, lie they ever so rugged, even though it be 
simply to find his tomb among the cliiTs, far above the wan- 
dering multitude below. It was the hjt of our departed friend 



Ad(h-e6-s of Mr. Dibble, of SonfJt. Carulinu. I5 

to aspire, and l)y dint (jf deserving honors to obtain tlieui. 
And in tlie roll of the representative men Of his native city 
the name of William H. Cole will be remembered as tliat 
of a servant of the people, who has left behind, in a brief 
Congressional career of only a few mouths, the record of 
faithful and efficient service according to his opportunity, 
a service creditalile both to himself and to his fellow-citizens. 
And what more can be said of any one ? It is the tide taken 
at the flood that leads on to fortune ; but, alas ! the elsb-tide 
came to him in the midst of his voyage and swept him out 
into the great sea of eternity. 

As I sat in the crowded cliurch and listened to his pastor, 
who had ministered to him in holy things in his last liours, 
and when I heard the recital of his religious life, and tliat 
he had died, as lie had li\-ed, in the Christian faith, express- 
ing unfaltering trust in God, and enjoying the solemn onli- 
nances of His church, I felt that, far above all earthly 
honors attained by our lamented friend, was the enjoyment 
of a blissful hereafter, of which his life and death gave 
promise and hope. This immoi'taJity of the soul is well 
illustrated in the expressive language of the saintly prelate 
when he exclaims : 

O listen, man ! 
A voice within us speaks the startling word, 
" Man, thou shalt never die !" Celestial voices 
Hymn it around our souls : according harps 
By angel fingers touched, when the mild stars 
Of morning sang together, sound forth still 
The song of our great immortality. 

* * * ■>;• « 

The dying liear it, and as sounds of earth 
Grow dull and distant, wake their passing souls 
To mingle in this heavenly harmony. 

And while the ashes of William H. Cole rest in peace, 
we trust his soul is happy with the immortals. 



16 Life and Character of William H. Cole. 



Address of Mr. Shaw, of Maryland. 

Mr. Speaker : My deceased colleague, Hon. William H. 
Cole, was born at Baltimore, Md.. on the lltli of January, 
1837. He early in life adopted tlie law as a profession, and 
was enrolled as an attorney at the immature age of twenty. 
He went to Kansas sjioi-tly after, and was chosen a member 
of its Territorial Legislature. He graduated in medicines at 
the University of Louisiana in the year 18G0, and in 18(31 
entered the confederate army as a private, but was soon pro- 
moted to be an assistant surgeon, and was assigned to duty 
with the Eighth Georgia Regiment. He served in all the 
camimigns of the war until the battle of Gettysburg, when 
he was left in charge of the wounded of Lougstreefs corps. 

When the war closed he returned to the city of his nativity, 
where he secured a position on the rejoortorial staff of several 
daily papers. He was reading clerk of the Maryland house 
of delegates four successive terms. In 1884 he was elected a 
member of this House for the Forty-ninth Congress. My 
acquaintance with him may be said to have commenced with 
the early days of its first session. Occupying, as I did, a 
seat by his side, I necessarily learned to know him well. He 
was an invalid when first we met, having been stricken with 
the disease which caused his death some time before he be- 
came a member of this body. 

Though a martj'r to i^ain and continuous suffering he was 
seldom absent from the sessions of this House until disease 
had so wasted his strength as to make it impossible for him 
to be here. His last appearance on this floor was to support 
the consideration of a measure which he regarded as of vital 
importance to the industrial prosperity of his country. Sick 
almost unto death, he would be carried from his carriage 



Address of Mr. Shaic, of Mnrylinid. 17 

int(j this Hall to discharge what he believed tu be au impera- 
tive duty. Duty with him wasinexoralde. Whenwell-ni'di 
exhausted by the ravages of a prolonged and fatal malady 
lie laid his enfeebled body under tribute to this despot of his 
own making nntil hopelessly bankrupt in strength its drafts 
could no longer ])e honored. 

No man ever strove harder or labored more ince.ssantly to 
serve his constituents than he who is the subject of these 
remarks. He was always ready to aid the weak and the 
friendless, and ever on the alert for an opportunity to do a 
kindly act. 

His chief ambition was to perfect a nreasure to lighten the 
burden that rests so heavily upon the bended shoulders of 
honest toil. ISTor was this desire inspired by the arts of the 
demagogue, but rather by a sincere and earnest wish t(j ben- 
efit his fellow-men. 

Himself of Celtic origin, the comiilaint of the Irish people 
appealed strongly to his sympathy and made him long to 
see Ireland numbered among the free an<l independent 
nations of the woidd. Any movement contemidating such 
a result found him a zealous advocate and a generous friend. 
Whilst I never knew a more genial, kindly nature, he was 
the special friend of no one. l)ut evinced a like devcjtion to 
the welfare of all, and loved his neighbor as himself. 

I do not mean to say the deceased was a faultless man — 
perfection is not an attrilnite of our nature — and tlKnigh he 
doulitless had his frailties, it will jirofit us only to recall and 
emulate his virtues, unmindful of whatever imperfections 
he may have had. 

Of his domestic relations I am not informed and cannot 

tell, yet may we not infer that one who jiossessed so much 

kindness of heart must have made a hajipy home ? But 

there is a supreme sorrow which even the imagination should 

H. Mis. 1G2 ■> 



18 Life and Churacier of William H. Cole. 

respect, and I will not lift the veil which hides frona the 
piil)lic gaze wouuded aud bleeding hearts. 

Mr. Speaker, this occasion should admonish us oi our im- 
mortality, aud we do well to heed the admonition, remem- 
bering that whilst man may dominate the earth it was given 
to One alone to conquer death. Let us, then, undisturbed 
by the skepticism of the age, put our trust in Him who has 
said, "I am the resurrection aud the life." 



Address of Mr. Wade, of Missouri. 

Mr. Speaker : There are many customs that make the 
world brighter and life better worth the living. That of the 
children of a family, after many years of separation, gather- 
ing at the old homestead to celebrate the golden anniversary 
of the marriage of their parents is one, aud he who may be 
an honored guest ui)on such an occasion, seeing the affection 
of the children for their parents and an expression upon the 
old father and mother's faces indicating hearts overflowing 
with love for the children, will go away from that home 
with a better appreciation of life and its possibilities, a more 
exalted love for the Creator and His purposes. Strewing 
flowers on the graves of loved ones is another. The flowers 
are emblematical of the now pure spirit life of the deiiarted. 
They speak in silent though eloquent language the affection 
in which the memory of the dead is held, and from a chan- 
nel tlirough which the holy influences of the better land 
may reach our hearts drive from them improper affections, 
and leave in their stead an influence that shall lead us when 
life's trials are ended to an eternal association with the pure 
and good. 

The custom of the members of this House meeting to do 
honor to the character of a dead colleague and to pay a 



Address of Mr. Wade, of Missouri. 19 

tribute of respect to his achievements and virtues is of like 
character. Tlirough our representative character fifty mill- 
it)n people are here, and a nation stands with heads uncov- 
ered to do honor to the memory of Dr. Cole. We are 
speaking to this great assembly; the young men of this 
country hear us ; the words of jjraise and commendation 
spoken of our dead friend will inspire them, give an im- 
petus to their ambition, impart a desire to be like him — 
honored because worthy, trusted l:)ecause tried and iKjt 
found wanting. 

My acrpiaintance with Dr. Cole began when the com- 
mittees of this Congress were appointed, and ended a few 
months later, when his failing health took him from the 
active diities of a member upon this floor. But, sir, it does 
not take years to learn the motives which inspire men's 
actions, to form an estimate of their character, to determine 
if they be worthy our confidence, entitled to our respect, fit 
objects of our love. 

A single act. a few words spoken, even a look, often as 
clearly determine the character of men as great deeds done 
or volumes written in praise of their virtues. It was the way 
in which Dr. Cole did little acts of kindness to others and 
myself that attracted me to him, led me to a careful study of 
his character, the purjiose he had in view, and the motives 
that governed his actions. I learned that he was ambitious, 
but that his ambition was of that character that seeks to 
benefit others while it elevated him ; he was earnest in his 
hxbors to accomplish that wdiich directly interested the jieo- 
ple of his district, but he was eipially as earnest in his efforts 
for the general good. In all his acts he seemed governed by 
a desire to deal fairly by others; to ask only what under the 
same circumstances he would be willing to give. 

I Avas told by one of his personal friends that the amtiition 



20 Life and Cliarndcr of WiUifoii H. Cole. 

vi tlie doctor's life was to represent his State in Congress. 
By the same person I was informed that he was a poor and 
friendless boy, and owed to himself whatever he had of 
edncation, influence, or position. 

Sir, if you will point me to a man who, starting in life 
lioor hut witli a laudable ambition, and who has achieved the 
full measure of that ambition, I am always willing to stand 
uncovered in that man's presence, even though that man's 
ambition had been to own only a cottage and ten acres. 

Dr. Cole represented his district in Congress, and to me 
that was enough to entitle him to my respect, and I honor 
his memory, and sincerely regret that Providence removed 
him from a position he honored ; and if he had lived I am 
sure his constituents would have demanded he should con- 
tinue to occiipy. 

Di-. Cole loved Maryland and her people, and his devo- 
tion to both could no more fittingly be expressed than by 
ciuoting the language of the daughter of Moab : 

Entreat me not to leave tliee, for whither thou goest, I ^vill go: thy 
people shall be my people, and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I 
die, and there will I be buried. 



Address of Mr. GiBSON, of Maryland. 

Mr. Speaker : While the arrows of death which have 
flown so thick and fast amid the I'anks of the Forty-ninth 
Congress have roblied the councils of our country of many 
from otlier States with whom it was our happy fortune to 
meet, those of us from the State which I have the honor in 
pait to represent are called upon to mourn the loss of a per- 
sonal friend and colleague. 

I knew William H. Cole well. He was my friend and 
"his adoption tried." Of his early life I knew but little. 



Address of Mr. Gihson, of Maryland. 21 

My association with liiin lias been since the war, wlien I 
first met him in the discharge of imjiortant trusts (h?volving 
upon him in tlie legislative Ijody of his State. 

Later, I knew him Letter in tlie jinrsuit of his chosen pro- 
fession of journalism. He was an honored member of this 
honored profession. In this avocation, in addition to tlie 
faithful discharge of tlu^ duties devolving upon him, he 
found time to contribute much to a subject which, next to 
his devotion to the interests of his State and his own country, 
lay close to his heart, the cause of Ireland. Although born 
and reared on the soil of his honored Maryland, as his fathers 
were before him, he was a devoted friend of Ireland. 

He was an enthusiast on the sul)ject and was always to be 
found where the woes of Ireland were said or sung, and was 
ever ready with his voice to defend and his purse to alleviate 
the wrongs of the people whose cause he espoused. 

He attended as a delegate all of the conventions, and was 
the secretary <jf the National Land League. 

The first leisure time he could secure he went abroad for 
several months and spent the most of his time in Ireland, 
visiting every section of it, mingling familiarly with her 
peopde, studying her institutions, and imbibing her tradi- 
tions. 

This to him was indeed a labor of love. 

He wanted to ascertain for himself what wrongs there 
were to be righted, and how best he could lift up the down- 
trodden, succor the poor, the feeble, an<l the oppressed, and 
secure as far as he might be able on his return to his own 
country the blessings of law, of liberty, and of order to the 
people toward whom his heart had gone out. In the death 
of William H. Cole the friends of '"home rule in Ireland" 
have lost a valuable ally, a fearless defender, and a faithful 
friend. 



22 Life and CharnHcr of WillUnn H. Cole. 

He was au indefatigable worker. " What his hands found 
to do lie did witli all his might." 

Those who knew our friend best know how he was impelled 
by the very genius of work; that for him there was not '"A 
time to get, and a time to lose ; a time to keep, and a time 
to cast away,"' but, rather, his work claimed all seasons for 
its own. It was his highest ambition to come to Congress— 
to represent that portion of Baltimore City comprising his 
district, where he was born and lived, and where had been 
born and had lived his father and his father's father. 

This was no recent aim of his life. It had been his boy- 
hood's dream. It had long been his high and manly ambi- 
tion til try his fortunes in this House, and when his people 
commended the chalice of exultant satisfaction to his lips, 
he was instt\nt in season and out of season to show them he 
was worthy of them and of the honor they had done to him. 

Time would fail me to recount his daily and nightly labors 
in and oi;t of this House to advance the interests of his dis- 
trict. His presence in the House was of short duration, 
from March nntil May. His expeiience had not grown full- 
orbed as yet to measure himself with those of rounded ex- 
perience in national matters. 

But looking to this House as the forum of his efforts and 
its honorable commendation as the goal of his ambition, it 
might well be said of him that "the zeal of Thine house 
hath consumed me."' 

When the steed of opportunity came thundering down 
the avenue of time he was found booted and spurred, and 
vaidted into the saddle ; but hardly had he time to know 
his courser's mettle " when dark -browed Care leaped up be- 
hind."" For weary weeks did he bear with silent solicitude 
and noble reticence the consciousness of a ])ainful and fatal 
malady ; and all the while he sought to have those about 



Address of Mr. Gibson, of MuryJund. 23 

him infer that his eye had iKjt grown dim and that neither 
was his natural force abated. 

Aye, Mr. S^jeaker, even wlien his weary feet could no 
longer measure their accustomed pace across these Halls, he 
was still fired with that indomitable spirit which thouyht it 
had accomplislied nothing S(.) long as anything remained to 
be accomplished. And so it was that, when he learned that 
a vote was to be taken on a measure of vital interest to the 
people of his district as well as to the nation, he caused him- 
self to be carried to his seat in the House, althougli he know 
the act might cause his death. He voted with his jjarty on 
that occasion ; it was his last act for his constitiients! 

Tender hands conveyed liim to his carriage, and I tiied to 
sj^eak words of hope and encouragement that my heart did 
not feel — of brighter days to come. '• No, my friend! Fare- 
well ; my last work here is done !" And so it was. Ere a 
week passed by he was dead. And so with his high chivalric 
sense of duty he died — " witli all his harness on !" 

Of his personal traits of character it were snnill worth to 
speak among those who knew him closely. 

Kindly and courteous to all ; at once dignified and unos- 
tentatious ; sloAV to take offense and ready to forgive ; too 
much the gentleman to be otherwise than gentle ; with 
delicacy of regard for the feelings of others ; as sensitive as 
instinct, he moved on to the discharge of his obligations to 
his fellow man, as absolutely the impersonation of " Charity 
for all, malice towards none," as it has ever come within the 
scoi^e of my obsei'vation of mankind to discover. May our 
labors in the vineyard bear kindred fruit. 

When we, too, have borne the heat and burden of the 
day may we, like him, have somewhat of that— 

Wherewith the reaper iilleth his arms, and he that gathereth sheaves, 
his bosom. 



24 Life (tiul ('hnnicifr nf WiUiain H. Cole. 

And so that for us. too. in the eventide tliere shall be light. 
And as we lay our burdens down, as our garments, may oiir 
"• Nunc Dimittis " be chanted with the same calm trust, the 
same assured hope of immortality, which brought rest and 
peace to the well-si)ent life of William H. Cole. 



Address of Mr. McCoMAS, of Maryland. 

Mr. Spe.\ker : My acquaintance with my deceased col- 
league, Hon. William H. Cole, commenced after his election 
to this Congress, and I am admonished that in this brief 
hour, in the closing days of this session, when all here are 
pressed with an.xiety and harassed with cares of legislation, 
Avhatever I may say of him must needs be brief. 

Sprung from a race which for centuries has been wrong- 
fully deprived of rule in his own country, and yet has had so 
large a part in the rule of ours, my colleague was by instinct 
fond of politics, its activity, its discussions, its excitement, 
and its varying fortunes in the controversy of elections ; and 
when I recall that in less tlian a half century of lifetime he 
had been a practitioner of law, student of medicine, had 
spent years under arms on the side he espoused in the late 
conflict in our country, had filled several offices in the city 
of Baltimore and in the house of delegates at Annapolis, and 
finally reached the goal of his ambition— a seat in Congress— 
I cannot but regret that when he came here he was in feeljle 
health, inadecpiate to jjerform the work which his generous 
and kindly nature suggested for the care of the individual 
wants of his constituents. 

When I met him yonder on the other side of the House at 
the opening session of this now dying Congress the look of 
death was already on his face • and in the few months he 



Address of Mr. H( muoni, of Ornjon. 25 

wafs liere tlie lime only sufficed to give us knowledge of liis 
kindly temperament. 

What part he might have home on this field there is no 
need now to speculate u})(jn. Many months ago I, with 
others commissioned by this House to attend the funeral, 
followed his remains at the close of a July day to the beauti- 
ful cemetery where he rests ; and looking back now I am 
confident that there remains for those who are near and dear 
to him, and for those who sent him to this Hall, a conscious- 
ness that the long procession of friends who gathered there 
in the church and on the highways of that gi'eat city, and 
crowded that cemetery, the great concourse of the plain jieo- 
ple, who were attached to him and who followed him to do 
honor at his burial, made for him the best of eiilogies. 

When, on an important division in this Chamber upon 
the Morrison tariff l)ill. whii.-h excited great national interest, 
my colleague came here in defiance of the admonitions of his 
physicians and cast the last vote he ever cast, impelled to 
come by a sense of public duty, and then returned to his bed, 
whence he was carried to his grave, my colleague performed 
his last public act, and it was an honorable close to his brief 
career in Congress so untimely closed. 



Address of Mr. Hermann, of Oregon. 

Mr. Speaker: It is not Maryland alone, sir. that mourns 
the death of her distingiiished son and our late associate in 
the House. From that State on the extreme western con- 
fines of the Republic, three thousand miles away. 

Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound 
Save Ills own dashings, 

I bring the sprig of acacia to ])lant ui)on the grave of Will- 
iam H. Cole. From and for that fai- distant State, the home 



26 Life and Chnracter of William H. Cole. 

(if my a(lo])tion, I nsk tlie sad privilege to unite in doing 
homage to the memory of one so lately the lionored Repre- 
sentative of my OAvn native State. 

When entering this Chamber for the first time I early 
sought his acquaintance, and at once became the recipient 
of his cordial welcome, the beneficiary of his ever-ready aid, 
and the gainer of valuable counsel as to the legislative rou- 
tine of this body. 

As our acquaintance ripened into intimacy. I became the 
confident of much of his lifework. The early assurances of 
his aid and influence I soon realized in the earnest attention 
which he bestowed on all matters of legislation which in- 
volved the advancement and in-osjierity of the great Pacific 
Northwest. In reviewing together the arduous labors of 
this body, with its cares and responsibilities. I can now re- 
call many cheering words, many practical suggestions, and 
many precepts of wisdom and admonition uttered from those 
lips now forever immovable and listless. 

I well remember his devoted attachment to the interests 
of his own constituents ; how faithfully he worked and how 
fondly he talked for the commercial advantages of his State, 
the improvement of hei- water ways, the shortening and 
cheai^ening of transportation to her markets, and for the 
removal of every discrimination against the least cost of 
her industries. That he might add even a tithe to the ag- 
grandizement of that grand old Monumental City — the 
place of his birth, and the home he loved so well — he was 
ready to forego his own hajipiness and his health. 

Noconstituencj^, no people, eA'er had a more faithful toiler, 
a more jealous representative of pojiular rights, or a more 
sleepless sentinel on the watch-towers of the Rei^ublic. He 
assigned himself a task and assumed a woi'k far exceeding 
the ability of any one person to accomplish. Ambitious for 



Address of Mr. Hermann, of Oregon. 27 

tlie aiiproval of his constituents, he labored with unceasing 
enei'gy to consummate his colossal plans. He encountered 
the usual vexatious delays incident in Congressional legis- 
lation. 

At length his system could no longer comply with the 
demand upon it, and as day by day he hurriedly passed 
through these aisles his pallid face told of the conflict with 
pain and disease. Soon the measured tread, the haggard 
and despondent look, admonished us all that our comrade's 
legislative career was rapidly nearing its close. 

A little later on his seat was vacant, his presence was gone, 
and he responded no more to the roll-call of this House. 

In his rooms, surrounded by his family, and like a soldier 
with his mantle wrapped around him, he patiently and with- 
out a murmur tarried to resi>ond to that other I'oll-call in 
that hnuse not made witli hands, eternal in the heavens. 
The crape upon the door, the flags at half-mast from the top 
of this Capitol, announced the sad story ; and our companion 
was gone. His birth, his ancestry, his ambition, and the 
histnry of his life have been elofpiently and well narrated 
by the voices of Maryland's Representatives here to-day. 

As my own jjoor offering in tribute to the memory of my 
departed friend, I can not speak more fittingly than to refer 
to the one single element in his character — his kindness for 
his fellow-men. Though once a soldier in the Confederate 
ranks and a particiijant in some of the most sanguinary and 
long-contested engagements of the late war, his biographer 
can write long and truly of the numerous kind deeds at his 
hands for tlie suffering friend as well as foe on the field of 
battle. 

Ardent and unflinching as a partisan, grateful and true to 
his ])olitical friends, he had a boundary lieyond which he 
would not go even in answer to these obligations ; he would 



28 Life and Cliordctcr of William H. Cole. 

not wrong a needy fellow. He was once earnestly entreated 

to aid in removing from office in my State tlie Republican 

incumbent, a lady and the widow of a Union soldier. A 

relative was an applicant for tlie posit i(.)n. He at once 

expressed his earnest and feelmg disa])proval. of the effort, 

saying that he conld never bring either his judgment or his 

heart to sanction the possible injury to the widow of a 

soldier. Of liini it may be said as it is said of Ben Adhem 

in those enduring lines : 

I pray thee, then. 
Write nie as one that loves his fellow-men. 
The angel wrote and vanished. The next night 
It came again with a gi-eat wakening light. 
And showed the names whom love of Goil had blessed, 
And lo ! Ben Adhem 's name led all the rest. 

And as the angel in the Book of Gold wrote Ben Adhem's 
name, so let the records (if his c(.iuntry write that of Will- 
iam H. Cole— "he loved his fellow-men." 

That he was a profound statesman or a great man in the 
usual acceptation his brief service in these halls did not dis- 
close. And yet we know that he was a great man. It was 
that great and good jurist Sir William Jones, who once said : 

If I am asked who is the greatest man, I answer, the best : and if I am 
required to saj' who is the best, I answer, lie that has deserved most of 
his fellow-creatui'es. 

In this respect our departed comrade was indeed a truly 
great man. His unwearied, persistent, and continuous la- 
bors in this Congress for the advancement of his State ; his 
kind and uncomplaining attendance upon the incessant de- 
mands of soliciting friends and constituents ; his generous 
and philanthropic nature; his ever-ready and open hand to 
the poor and the distressed, the widow and the orphan ; and 
Ids devoted life as a son as well as a hiisband all attest the 
high (ptalities of the social man and the official Represent- 
ative. 



Addrcfis of Mr. McMillin, of Tenmssee. 2'J 

If I were I'equired to indicate what I conceived to be his 

greatest virtue, I shouhl answer, liis devotion and fidelity 

in friendsliii). Tliis would seem to follow from the inherent 

qualities of his heart and mind. 

* To thine o«n self be true ; 

And it must follow as the night the day. 
Thou can'st not then be false to any man. 

Of all men William H. Cole was true to himself. He 
was greatest to tliose who knew him best. He believed that 
one who roidd Ix'ti'ay a friend could jirove false to his coun- 
try, his family, and his G(.i(l. 

And when his epitaijh shall be wiitten may this crown- 
ing virtue be commemorated, may it be engraved in marble 
and iK'r]ietuated in letters of gold. And thus it is. sir, 
that in the State he loved and served so well they mourn 
for him. 



Address of Mr. McMillin, of Tennessee. 

Mr. Speaker: Thf solemn duly has again devolved onus 
of commemorating the virtues of one wIk.) died at his jjost 
in our midst. Again we are by an illustrious example ad- 
monished that our stay here at the best is but brief and its 
termination inevitable. 

Dr. Cole, the distinguished i-itizen and Reiu'esentative of 
Maryland, whose untimely death we are called to mourn, 
was Ijorn in that State in 1837. Like many of our American 
youth he determined at an early age to leave the home oi 
his fathers and try his fortunes in the West. In that, as in 
everything else, he evinced self-reliance and a determination 
to succeed. Protected by the laws of his country and encour- 
aged by its free institutions he had no fear for the future. 
Wherever he went his life was characterized by activity 



30 t^if< f">'J ChfiraHcr of Williatn H. Cole. 

and iii(li)iiiital)le energy. Selecting tlie medical profession, 
lie graduated with distinction in one of the medical colleges 
of Louisiana; but having a political turn of mind, not- 
withstanding he was well equiijped for his jirofession, he 
determined to seek a field more congenial, and chose that 
of journalism. 

When, in ISGl, the civil war broke upon tlie country he 
identified himself with the people of the South, and showed 
a readiness to sacrifice himself for what he conceived to be 
right. As a soldier he had dauntless courage, and never 
shrank from the post of duty. Returning from the war he 
took up his residence again in the State of his nativity. He 
accepted the results of the war without murmuiing. What 
a grand commentary it is upon the patriotism of the people 
of the United States that those who so recently engaged in 
fratricidal strife and were so ready to take each (jthers" lives, 
when the war ended vied with each other in efforts to make 
our Government and keep it all that its framers designed it 
should be. Who that has seen Dr. Cole on this floor will 
doubt either his patriotism or his willingness to make what- 
ever sacrifice was necessary to maintain and peri^etuate our 
glorious Government ? 

Dr. Cole continued in a jiuirnalistic pursuit, .spending a 
l)i_>rtion of his time as clerk in the legislature of his native 
State. I remember well the first time I ever met him. It 
was in the contest of our present minister to France, Gov. 
Robert M. McLane, for the governorship of Maryland. 
HaA'ing been invited to participate in that canvass, soon after 
my arrival at Baltimore I met Dr. Cole and traveled with 
him during a good portion of the canvass. He then said to 
me that if I continued in Congress he would meet me here. 
He spoke with the assurance of a self-reliant man. It was 
his highest ambition to become a member of the greatest 



Address of Mr. McMillin, of Tennessee. 31 

legislative body on eartli, and he Indie ved that a ooinl)ina- 
tion of intelligence, integrity, and industry wonld insure it. 
How well he calculated and liow tlioroughly he had the 
confidence of his people is shown by the fact that he was 
elected to the second Congress chosen after the conversation 
I liave narrated. 

It Avas my good fortune to draw a seat immediately in 
front of him, so that I knew him not only as a citizen, but as 
a Representative, and saw his every-day walk and heard his 
cvery-day conversation in the discharge of his duties ; and I 
do no disparagement to others when I say tliat Maryland 
had no Reiiresentative who could exert himself more ener- 
getically and earnestly in the discharge of his official diities 
than did Dr. Cole. He was patriotic as a citizen, bcjld and 
fearless in his advocacy of tlie right as a Representative, and 
never tiring in the discharge of his duty. But it soon be- 
came evident that he was not long for this earth. Day by 
day he grew more pallid, and day by day became more fee- 
l)le; l)ut notwithstanding deatli had Iiini marked, and ho 
knew it, his spirits never flagged, nor did his resolution ever 
fail. He seemed to feel tliat for a public servant there was 
no better place to end life than at the post of duty. 

I remember the last time lie was in this Hall. It had been 
supposed that he could never be brought here; but an im- 
portant measure came up — one that it was known would 
require every friend of the measure to secure its passage — 
a 1)ill looking to the reduction of the taxation of tlie jieople. 
Although physicians protested and friends urged him not to 
take the risk, he was hauleil to the House and brought tiji 
in time to cast his last vote. I remeralier approaching him 
and speaking to him, telling him Ikjw glad I was to see him 
able to be here. With a smile that showed that lie feared 
not death and was not afraid to sacrifice his life in the 



32 Ijiff '""' Clmnicfr)- of WiUiaiii H. C'oh. 

discharge of duty lio said tliat. "although his ijliysicians 
regarded it perilous, he had resolved to coiin' and risk the 
consequences." He was taken back to his sick bed, from 
■which lie never rallied. It is gratifying to be able to say 
that those who knew him best loved him most. 

In the streniious exertion he made to discharge his duty 
he was urged on by a confidence that even if injured in its 
discharge in this life, there was a life beyond, where faithful 
service was rewarded and where want of fidelity was pun- 
ished. He had confidence that for him and for all who 
believed in tlie Idessed Redeemer and kept His command- 
ments here was a life eternal, where mortality should put 
on immortality, and where life should become an endless 

splendor. 

Is it ni)t sweet to think hereafter. 

When the soul sliall leave this sphere. 
Love, with deathless wings, shall waft her 

To those she long hath mourned for liere? 

Hearts from which 'twas death to sever, 

Eyes tliis world can ne'er restore. 
There as warm, as bright as ever. 

They shall meet to part no more. 

Mr. Speaker, tins Congress has lost an efficient and faith- 
ful member, his family its strong support, and his country 
an unselfish patriot. 



Address of Mr. RuSK, of Maryland. 

Mr. Speaker : In July, 1SS4. it was my jjrivilege in the 
Congressional nominating convention of the district I now 
represent to place in nomination my predecessor, Hon. 
William H. Cole, referring to him as a man of exijerience 
and ability, who had been for many years a prominent figure 
in dui- jiolitical organization. Flushed with pride at the 



Address of Mr. E.isl-. of Marijland. 33 

gratification of a loiig-cluTislied Avisli, Ikj appeared before 
tliat convention in apparent health and full of manly vigor, 
giving promise of a long and useful puhlic career. 

But, sir, how frail are the ties that bind us to life ; how 
futile our wishes and desires, and how dim our perception 
of the future ; for hardly had his election been assured and 
his life-long hojje gratified, than the strong, active man was 
stricken with disease ; and although his strong mind and 
resohite will literally enabled him " to hold death at arm"s 
length," and to remain at the i»st of duty until almost totter- 
ing on the verge of the grave, and his days were numbered 
his career was ncaring its close, hastened no doubt by his 
assiduoris devotion to what he Cf)nsidered his duty t(.) his 
constituency. 

And, sir, in less than two years from the time I placed 
him in nomination it was my sad duty, as a personal friend 
and a representative of our political organization, to attend 
in company with a great concourse of our citizens the obse- 
quies of our late friend and Representative. Witli saddened 
hearts we liore all that was mortal of William H. C(.)LE out 
among the beautiful hills that surround our city, and as the 
summer sunset touched their summits with its parting rays of 
promise of another day. in lieantiful '' Bonnie Brae " we 
laid him to rest. 

It seemed to us, limited as our perceptions are to our 
environment, that it was inexpressibly sad for this strong, 
good man to be taken from our midst, his career of honor and 
usefulness cut short — taken away from that hearthstone 
now cheerless from his absence, away from the fulfillment 
of those laudable ambitions which Hlled his heart with hope 
and gave strength to the enfeebled body even to the very 
day " when God's finger toTiched him and he slept ;" sad that 
we should place him in the silent tomb, and. except to 
H. Mis. VVl ;j 



34 Life and Chantcfi r of Willidiii H. Coir. 

tliL' lew faithful hearts, tlie busy worki go on as if he liad 
not lived ; but, sir, if we could look beyond this seeming 
sunset of his life, if we could catch the accents of that 
released and unburdened spirit, we might have heard the 
whisper, "It is well." 

Mr. Speaker, William H. Cole was a man of versatility 
and varied experience, of strong will and determination — 
this was his distinguishing characteristic. Born in Balti- 
more city, we find him in early manhood, after his admis- 
sion to the bar, settling in Kan.sas, taking part in the fierce 
struggle in that State in 1857 and 1858. Later we find him 
in the civil war, casting his fortune with the Southern States, 
where his ability and courage gave him distinction. 

After the war, returning to his native city, he entered the 
field of journalism, again winning distinction, in the mean 
while being called to positions of honor and trust in our city 
and State government, until he was chosen to represent our 
district in this House. 

Mr. Speaker, William H. Cole was essentially a man of the 
people. Every pulsation of his heart was in unison with thei/ 
interests. Not an Irishman liy birth, yet he was an honored 
officer of the Land League, one of the accredited represent- 
atives in its national organization. Not a workingmau in 
the sense of performing manual labor, yet he was always 
welcomed at the deliberations of our workingmen and recog- 
nized as their true friend. 

As a i^arty man, while tolerant and respectful of the opin- 
ions of those honestly differing from him, yet he was filled 
with an honest zeal, which would not be repressed, for the 
success of his party. Whatever might be his individual 
disappointments in political matters, he never faltered in his 
allegiance to his party. 

In the latter da vs of his life he arose almost from his death- 



AdrJrcfiN of 3fr. Nxsk, <>/ Jfari/lninJ. 35 

lu'd and came to tliis Hall to east liis vote for a measure 
which lie deemed of great imiJortauee and promisin- (lie 
greatest benefits to his countrymen. Later on. as your last 
session was drawing to its close, he recognized that his end 
was fast ai)pr(jaching, and altlKJUgh it was liard to suri-ender 
up those fond hopes and ambitions, harder still to sever those 
lieart ties which bound him to home and loved ones, yet 
without a murmur, " sustained and soothed by an unfaltering 
trust,"' he awaited the summons which called him from time 
to eternity, from ceaseless pain to endless .j(jy. Peace to his 
ashes. Honor to his memoiy. 

Mr. Speaker, I move the adoi.tionof the resolutions olfered 
by my colleague [Mr. ComptonJ. 

The resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the House 
adj(.)urned. 



PROCEEDINGS IN THE SENATE. 



In the Senate of the United States, 

JuJll 8, 1880. 
A message from tlie House of Rei)reseiitatives, by Mr. T. 
O. TowLES, its Chief Clerk, communicated to the Senate 
the intelligence of the death of William H. Cole, late a 
member of the House from the St^ite of Maryland, and trans- 
mitted the resolutions of the House thereon. 

The President pro tempoir. The resolutions of the House 
of Representatives will be read. 

The Secretary read as follows : 

Resolved. That tlie Hnuse has heard with {irofwiuil regret the an- 
nounceiueiit of the deatli of Hon. William H. Cole, late a" Rei)i-e.seiit- 
ative fnjiu the State i>f Maryland. 

Resoh-ed bi/ the House of Representatives {the Senate co}ieiirrhi(j), That 
a select committee, consisting of seven members of tlie House and three 
members of the Senate, be appointed to take order for superintendinK the 
funeral and to escort tlie remains of the deceased to their place of buria,l, 
and the necessary expenses attendiiig the execution of this order be paid 
out of the contingent fund of tlie House. 

Resohvd. That the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House be authorized and 
directeil to take such steps as may be necessary for properly carrying out 
the jirovisions of these resolutions. 

Resolved, That the Clerk communicate the foreg.jing resolutions to the 
Senate. 

Mr. Gorman. I submit a series of resolutions and ask for 
their present consideration. 

The President jjro tempore. The I'csolutions will be read. 

37 



38 Life 011(1 VhiiYdrhr cyj' M'ilUdiii H. Cole. 

The Sefrctary read as follo^vs : 

Resnlrcd. That tlit' Senate lias learned witli iloep regvet the announce- 
ment of the tleath of Hon. William II. Cole, late a Representative from 
tlie State of JIaryland. 

lU'Solved, That the Senate eoneur in tiie resolution of the House of Rep- 
resentatives providing for the appointment of a joint committee to take 
order for superintending the funeral and to escort the remains of the de- 
ceased to the place of burial, and that the members of the committee on 
the part of the Senate be appointed by the President j))'o tcinpure. 

Resoli'cil, That the Sacretary communicate these resolutions to the 
House of Representatives. 

The I'esolutions were considered l)y unanimous consent, and aj^Tced to. 

ilr. WiLSOX, of Maryland. As a further mark of respect 
for tlie meniory of tlie deceased, I move that tlie Senate ad- 
jonrn. 

The motion was agreed to; and the Senate accordingly 
adjourned. 



Ix THE Sexate of the Uxited States, 

Jiilij !). issi;. 
The Presidext ^jro tempore appointed Mr. Wilsox, of 
Marylanil, Mr. Kexxa, and Mr. Mandersox tlie commit- 
tee on the part of the Senate to take order for superintend- 
ing the funeral of the late Representative William H. 
Cole, of ^Maryland, and to escort the remains of the de- 
ceased t(j their place of burial. 



Ix THE Sexate op the Uxited States. 

March 1. 1S87. 
Mr. GoRMAX. Mr. President. I ask that the Chair lay be- 
fore the Senate the message of the House of Eepresentatives 
communicating the intelligence of the death of Hon. Will- 
iam H. Cole. 



Proceedings in flic Homfe. 39 

Tlie President jjto tempore laid Ijeforo llie Senate the 
rey(.)lutiou.s of the House of Representatives ; wliic-li wei-(' 
read, as follows : 

In the House of Representatives, 

Febniiiri/ 28, 1SS7. 
licsohvd, Tliat the business of this House be suspended tliat appropri- 
ate lionors may be itaid to tlie memory of Hon. William H. Cole, late 
a Representative in Congress from tlie State of Maryland. 

Resolved. That in the death of Mr. Cole the country has sustained the 
loss of a patriotic citizen and a most faithful public servant. 

Resolved. That the Clerk of the House communicate these resolutions 
to the Senate. 

Ml'. Gorman. I sulnnit a series of resolutions, an<l ask- 
that they be read. 

The President pro tempore. The resolutions submitted 
by the Senator from Maryland will be read. 

The resolutions were read, as follows : 

Resolved, That the Senate has heard with deep sensibility the announce- 
ment of the death of Hon. William H. Cole, late a Rejjresentative in 
Congress from the State of Maryland, and tenders to the relatives of the 
deceased the assurance of their sympathy with them under their bereave- 
ment. 

Resolved. That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to transmit to 
tli<> family of Mr. CoLE a copy of these resolutions. 



40 'Life and Character of William II. Cole. 



Address of Mr. Gorman, of Maryland. 

Mr. President : In asking tlie Senate to consider reso- 
Intions in eonnnemoration of tlielife and public services of 
the Hon. William H. Cole, late a Representative from the 
State of Maryland, it is my privilege to bear testimony to 
the personal worth, the private character, and ijublic services 
of one I liave kmiwu intiniatelj' for many years. 

The condition of the public business at this late stage of 
the session forljids any elaborate eulogy on any deceased 
friend. Ijut it is my pleasure to be able to look back iipon 
liis life and find no failure of duty, no betrayal of trust ; 
and to be able to say of him that in every position to which 
he was called the discharge of duty in a faithful, unobtrusive 
manner was the one object of his life. 

As a memljer of the i>ress of the city of Baltimore he 
lirought to his work a well-cultivated and improved mind, 
an integrity of purjiose, and a regard for the rights and 
character of others, which made him a most valuable con- 
tributor to the public joiirnals of that city. His personal 
qi;alifications soou attracted attention, and he was selected 
for various public i^laces ; as reading clerk to the city coun- 
cil, and of the house of delegates he became familiar with 
legislative routine, and well fitted for the duties of Repre- 
sentative of the people in the Congress of the United States. 

As a member of the House he devoted himself to the busi- 
ness inattei-s of his constituents with the Government of the 
United States, preferring to serve in a useful way those 
who had honored him. tliaii to attemjot a more imposing 
role. And in that line of duty his immediate constituents 
have never had a more zealous, industrious, and indefatiga- 
ble Representative. 



Address of Mr. Gorman, of Maryland. 41 

He ai^i^lied himself with vigor and intelligence to every 
minute detail of the business of his constituents, and the 
records of the Deiaartments of the Government will bear 
testimony that he left no duty unperformed and no trust 
unexecuted. Nor was his duty a light one ; the proximity of 
his district to the capital of the country, and as a part of a 
large, prosperous city like Baltimore, brought more of the 
departmental work upon Mr. Cole than perhaps fell to the 
lot of any other Eepreseutative. 

Under the severe strain of harrowing disease this duty 
was performed from day to day, but no bodily pain was per- 
mitted to interfere with its performance. This unselfish 
devotion to the business of his constituents won for him a 
more than political regard ; it created a warm affection, 
which will cause his services to be long and affectionately 
remembered. 

His election to the House of Representatives was secured 
by no brilliant public service ; it was won by personal regard, 
by personal popularity, and by a feeling on the part of the 
people of his district that he had. in other positions of pub- 
lic trust to which he had been appointed, so faithfully dis- 
charged his duty that he deserved a reward oi higher honor 
and more extended res])onsibility. 

His private as well as his public life was without a Ijlemish. 
He was a dutiful son. a faithful and affectionate husliand. a 
kind and generous friend, as well as a worthy citizen. 

It would give me a sad pleasure, Mr. President, to dwell 
longer on the virtues and usefulness of my deceased friend, 
liut I know at this hour of the session public duty demands 
the sacrifice of some of that honor which the Senate would 
under other circumstances be glad to pay to the memory of 
a faithful, industrious member oi Congress. 



42 Lift' Olid Cltamcter of William H. Cole. 

Tlie State has lost a good citizen, tlie district an earnest 
Representative, society a useful member, and a large circle 
of friends mourn the death of one near and dear to them. 



Address of Mr. Wilson, of Maryland. 

Mr. President : I had not the slighcst expectation till 
just bef(jre the recess of the Senate this evening that I shoiild 
be called upon to participate in these ceremonies. Although 
poorly prepared for the duty, I feel that I cannot properly 
decline its attempted discharge. 

When I entered this chamber on the 19th day of March, 
ls,s,5, to take the oath of office as a member of this body, the 
first man I saw was William H. Cole, a Representative 
from my State in the other House. 

I have often thought of the stai'tled gesture of surprise 
which he involuntarily made when he first saw me, a pale, 
thin, haggard man, just arisen from a bed of dangerous and 
protracted illness. To me, small then did the chances ap- 
pear that I woidd live as a friend to lament his death, and 
as a fellow Representative in Congress to lay a tribute upon 
his grave. To all outward appearance he was then a man 
of strong vitality, being of large frame and of superfluous 
flesh. But even then the insidious approaches of disease 
were undermining his health, and it soon became apparent 
that he was hastening to the grave. 

Limited as we now are as to time, being in the last busy 
liours of an expiring Congress, I for one am not willing that 
we shall adjourn without a few words of I'csjx'ct towards an 
honest and worthy man. who died in the service of his country 
as a member f)f Congress. Better, far better that the custom 
of delivering eulogies upon deceased members should forever 



Address of Mr. Wilson, of Manjand. 43 

cease than that any one of such a class should he I'emitted 
by lis to an nnhonored and iinforgotten grave. 

Sir, Dr. Cole was to me a comparative stranger. I had 
not often met him before the beginning of the present Con- 
gress. His health was so poor during the first year of its 
duration that our opportunities for social or business inter- 
course was quite limited before disease laid its liand upon 
him so heavily as to hold him a pris(.)Uer in his home. 

But what I had been permitted to see of him fully jire- 
pared me to believe what others in the spirit of intimate 
acquaintance and of friendship have said of him. that he 
was a man of an unselfish nature, strong devotion to dut}\ 
generoiTs and steady friendshij), open-hearted charity, genial 
and kindly disposition, strong convictions, and indomitable 
energy. 

Those who knew him most intimately thought that his 
•great power of will actually staid the progress of disease 
and the arrival of the mortal hour. However this may be, 
it is certain that this strong trait of character, whicli lies as 
mi;cli at the foundation of human gi'eatness as even great 
alnlities, bore him steadily on t(.) the goal of his ambition, a 
seat in Congress. 

Fortunately for the success of this dream of his earlier 
life, after his return to Maryland at the close of the war, he 
embarked in tlie h(jnoral)le profession of journalism. With 
the exception oi the law (and it sometimes seems as if it 
might in time even outstrip that noble calling) no other pro- 
fession is better calculated to fully equip an ambitious man 
for success in the political world than that of a journalist. 
From it have already sjirung some of our ablest, most suc- 
cessful, and useful public men. 

It will inevitably prove a more and more potent factor in 
controlling and shaping the destinies of the civilized world. 



44 Lift- nnrl Chnrachr of iriUiam H. Cole. 

It must be the devout wish of every patriot's heart, that, 
fully knowing their power for weal or woe to their country 
and to mankind, tlie members of tliis noble pnjfession will 
strive for a lofty ideal in their high calling, and will con- 
tinually aim to keep up at a high standard that statesman- 
ship which is becoming day by day more and more linked 
witli tlieir own aims and aspirations. 

Dr. Cole's connection with journalism was, no donlit, the 
stepping-stone for him to a seat in Congress. But just there 
the fell destroyer cut short his career, leaving him no room, 
but for a short time, to show his great zeal and untiring 
devotion to the interests of his State and of his immediate 
constituents. As he was devoted and true in every other 
relation of life, so he was in that one upon which depends 
more than upon all others the happiness of our race, that of 
a husband and head of a family. And as sucli devotion de- 
served, he was blessed with a partner in his joys and in his 
sorrows whose pleasure and pride it ever was nobly to cheer 
and help him onward in all his efforts and aspirations. 

Mr. President, I move the adoption of the resolutions 
offered by my colleague. 

The President pro tempore. The (juestion is on the adop- 
tion of the resolutions. 

The resolutions were unanimously agreed to, and the Sen- 
ate adjourned. 




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